Oh Hail! (or Sleet)

Sorry, the title was too easy! LOL There is still debate going on as to whether this event was hail or sleet. I can see the argument from both sides. One site says that hail is a summer thing and sleet is a winter thing. Um, it's fall, so that's no help. Yes, it was what I would call cold outside, but it was 54F/12C outside. I wouldn't think that was cold enough for sleet. It was also larger pieces than I think of sleet as being. I've always thought of sleet as very small (1-2 mm max) and glassy looking. These were larger and frosty.



That is a US dime (about 18mm in diameter) for scale. Who knows what it was! But it was a little freaky watching it fall from a near black cloud.



There were storms in the area, but it had hardly rained at the house all day. When I first heard it, I thought it was a really strong wind rustling the trees. It wasn't until I looked out the window and saw things bouncing off the deck that I realized there was ice falling from the sky! I really started to get paranoid that a tornado might be coming, but I don't think one ever actually formed. Needless to say, it knocked all sorts of leaves and twigs and pine straw off the trees. The streets were a mess, but everyone was safe with no property damage.

Currently feeling: icy